The nine-digit deal is the second for the creator of ‘Yellowstone’ with the media conglomerate and includes several other projects that are underway for the media company.
Taylor Sheridan is doubling in his relationship with ViacomCBS.
The Yellowstone The creator struck his second general agreement with the media titan in a pact that sources estimate to be worth nine digits. The new agreement comes a year after Sheridan’s current three-year pact and extends his agreement for another five years (until 2028). It also includes a serial order for a Yellowstone prequel entitled Y: 1883, at Paramount +.
Sheridan’s business is also expected to cover a number of other projects at various stages of development. The pact includes five cycles per year of series of roadmaps and procedures. The deal will see Sheridan provide content for MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios for platforms including, but not limited to, CBS, Paramount Network, Paramount + and other ViacomCBS brands. It will also have the ability to sell to third-party buyers. Sheridan is also behind the prison drama Kingstown Mayor, which was selected for the Paramount Network series in January 2020.
Yellowstone it was a monstrous success for the basic cabler owned by the ViacomCBS Paramount Network and has already been renewed for a fourth season. The end of the third season last August reached a total of 5.16 million viewers, crowning the season that crowned the program as the most watched cable entertainment program of 2020. The series led by Kevin Costner, co-created by Sheridan and John Linson, is currently broadcasting on NBCUniversal’s Peacock while ViacomCBS seeks to extend the program’s reach before bringing the library back to Paramount +.
Y: 1883 follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west across the Great Plains towards the last bastion of untamed America. It is a reinterpretation of western expansion and an intense study of a family fleeing poverty in search of a better future in the promised land of America – Montana. The Sheridan executive produces alongside John Linson, Art Linson, David Glasser, David Hutkin and Bob Yari. The first prequel promotion will air on Sunday during the Super Bowl. (See below.)
Paramount + will be officially launched in March, when it will be renamed CBS All Access. The platform was designed to be expanded to include content from the entire ViacomCBS portfolio, including BET, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, MTV, Comedy Central and VH1, among others.
Yellowstone it was the first drama chosen for the series for Paramount Network after it was renamed (from Spike TV) as a general entertainment destination by former Viacom executive Kevin Kay. (It was Kay who started negotiations for a general agreement with Sheridan years ago.) Yellowstone it became a subscription success for Paramount and inspired Chris McCarthy, who oversees all basic ViacomCBS cable networks, to build around event-style originals with big characters at their center, whether scripted series or movies originals.
“Taylor Sheridan is a visionary creative whose work has reinvented genres and has built fan bases around the world; we are thrilled that he calls ViacomCBS and MTV Entertainment from his home,” said MTV Entertainment President McCarthy. “We couldn’t be more excited to continue our partnership with him, expand the Yellowstone universe and show Taylor’s unlimited talent across all of our brands and platforms.”
Sheridan is represented by CAA, Elevate Entertainment and Meyer & Downs.